Scott Cleveland

BPM Requirements

BPM
isn't just about software; it is about transforming your business.

Before
you can make any kind of software purchase decision, you need to understand how
you 'want' to do business. Changes to
your processes or new formal processes will transform your business. Not only will your company be changing how
they do business, your employees will be changing how they work. Some changes may look better on paper than
they do in real life. Those decisions
need to be reflected in your requirements.

Requirements
are the foundation for the design of your solution. Your requirements will be a part of your
implementation project plan. Your
requirements will help define the scope of your implementation project.

Included
in your requirements should be your definition of success. Objective measureable goals make it easier to
show success. Management will want to
see success. You will need to show that
success if you wish to expand your solution to other parts of your company.

Attempting
an implementation without a comprehensive requirements document will almost
certainly lead to delays and cost overruns.
How will anyone implement a software 'solution' if they have no idea
what the 'solution' is? The costs of
creating a comprehensive requirements document are well worth it and will
reduce actual implementation costs.

When
looking at software, vendors are out to 'wow' their prospects. They want to blow you away with their
technology. What you need to know is 'if
their software will meet your solution requirements'. If it will, then 'wow' is OK.

One
last thought - a key 'moment of truth' will be how your process interacts with
your customer. Make sure some thought is
given to your customer in your requirements document.

Scott Cleveland

Scott Cleveland is a technical, innovative and creative marketing manager with more than 25 years of experience in marketing, marketing management, sales, sales management and business process consulting aimed at high-tech companies.
His areas of expertise include: product marketing, solutions marketing, solution selling, sales maangement, business process management, business process improvement and process optimization. Reach him at RScottCleveland[at]gmail.com.